Gabe Alvarez

The 48-team NCAA playoffs begin May 25 at eight regional sites, to be announced May 15, and the NCAA will go where large crowds and a profit are guaranteed. That probably means Wichita, Kan.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Miami and Tallahassee, Fla.; Baton Rouge, La.; Clemson, S.C.; Austin, Tex., and Stillwater, Okla., Fresno or Palo Alto. The College World Series begins June 2 at Omaha. USC had a regional in 1991, but the school lost an estimated $50,000 and failed to advance to the World Series.

The dark clouds floating over Tiger Stadium before Monday's game carried only thunderstorms. They hadn't traveled with the Angels from Chicago, as it might have seemed. Dave Hollins went on the disabled list Sunday; Darin Erstad followed him Monday. Two more injuries in a season where the team's medical staff has been as vital as its pitching staff. By game's end, after closer Troy Percival blew away three Detroit Tigers to finish a 6-2 victory in front of 15,928, things didn't look so bad.

The Colorado Rockies' opening game against the Montreal Expos on April 9 in Denver will draw the biggest baseball crowd since 1959, when 92,706 saw the Chicago White Sox beat the Dodgers, 1-0, in Game 5 of the World Series at the Coliseum. . . . All 76,000 tickets at Mile High Stadium have been sold, and there is a possibility that extra seats will be installed. . . .

Explanations about what happened during the NCAA West Regional playoff baseball game between USC and Fresno State were hard to come by after the teams finally completed it Friday night. The scoreboard offered little help, because it was not designed to handle the runs and hits the teams heaped upon it. "A game like that defies any explanation," USC Coach Mike Gillespie said after a 22-17 victory over Fresno State that allowed his top-seeded Trojans to improve to 2-0 in the regional.

Recruited to punt for Nebraska's football team, Darin Erstad decided to play baseball for the Cornhuskers because he loved the sport. The decision paid off for Erstad on Thursday, when the Angels made him the No. 1 selection in the amateur baseball draft. "It's kind of hard to believe," he said. "The money's not going to change who I am. I play the game because I love it." Catcher Ben Davis of Malvern Prep outside of Philadelphia, the second player selected in the draft, received a $1.

Although Cal State Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido had just posted his 1,000th victory in collegiate baseball, he wasn't grinning from ear-to-ear. "We still have 18 innings left together, and that's all we can be sure of," Garrido said quietly. Sparked by three home runs and a 12-hit attack, Fullerton soundly defeated San Jose State, 12-1, in the first of a three-game Big West Conference series Friday at Titan Field.

Jesse Ibarra helped his baseball team win a game last summer with what might turn out to be the three most profitable swings of his career. Ibarra, who grew up in El Monte, homered three times for the Santa Maria Indians during their first game of the National Baseball Congress World Series at Wichita, Kan., an annual national amateur tournament that draws throngs of professional scouts.

Pitcher Tom Seaver is the only USC baseball player who has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he is not the only Trojan who can be found in Cooperstown, N.Y. J.P. Roberge, a sophomore left fielder for the Trojans, made his way into baseball's hallowed hall in 1991 via the Senior Babe Ruth World Series. Roberge, an Arcadia resident, helped a San Gabriel Valley all-star team win the championship by batting .650.

Jon Garland is coming of age in Birmingham, Ala. At 19, the former Kennedy High pitcher is the youngest player in the double-A Southern League. But his youth and the fact he's within sight of the major leagues hardly has the former first-round pick intimidated. "It's the same game wherever you go," said Garland, who last week was called up to the Birmingham Barons by the Chicago White Sox. "If you make good pitches, they're good pitches anywhere."

The Atlanta Braves needed a victory, and Greg Maddux delivered. Maddux struck out a career-high 13 and became the National League's first 11-game winner, pitching the Braves past the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-0, Saturday night at Atlanta. The victory ended the Braves' three-game losing streak and was only their third in 10 games. Maddux also put an end to Toronto's season-high six-game winning streak. Maddux said there wasn't any added pressure on him to come through.